BBQ
Rib tips and hot links from aquarium smokers, plus Texas-style brisket.
Twin Anchors Restaurant & Tavern
An Old Town tavern serving slow-cooked ribs since 1932, in an 1881 building that was a Sinatra hangout. The old corner-bar feel is half the reason to go.
Lem's Bar-B-Q
The standard for South Side aquarium-smoker barbecue since 1954, and a James Beard America's Classic.
Honey 1 BBQ
Old-school, wood-fired Chicago barbecue with no shortcuts.
Smoque BBQ
The city's longtime benchmark for Texas-style brisket.
Sanders BBQ Supply Co.
The Infatuation's top-rated barbecue: South Side tips plus Texas-level brisket.
Green Street Smoked Meats
A Texas-style smokehouse down an alley. The easiest good barbecue for downtown visitors.
Lexington Betty Smokehouse
A Food Network-champion pitmaster in historic Pullman.
Soul & Smoke Avondale
Black-owned barbecue in a riverside beer-garden complex.
South Side barbecue and beyond
Chicago has its own barbecue style, and it comes from the South Side. Rib tips and hot links are smoked in an "aquarium smoker," a glass-walled pit that lets you watch the meat cook. They're served over fries, topped with sauce, and packed with white bread in a paper tray. Most of the classic spots are takeout-only counters.
The city also has excellent Texas-style brisket houses and old-school rib taverns.
How to order: a "tip and link combo" gets you both. Ask for sauce on the side if you want to keep the fries crisp, or mild sauce if you want the full experience.
For Chicago's other sauce tradition, see fried chicken with mild sauce.